Unstructured-data management company Panzura Inc. is integrating its intelligent hybrid cloud storage platform with Docker, making data more available for applications deployed in software containers in any location.

Software containers are an alternative to virtualization that abstract applications away from the underlying hardware, so they can be run on any computing platform. Docker Inc.’s Docker Engine is the most popular iteration of container software, which has seen adoption come along in leaps and bounds over the past couple of years.

Developers are embracing containers because they deliver a range of benefits, including greater modularity, consistency between test and production deployments, and no need to write separate versions of applications for different operating systems and hardware.

Despite those benefits, Panzura said, software containers still present problem for developers when it comes to data storage. With most legacy storage environments, persistent data – defined as information that is infrequently accessed and not likely to be modified – is only available locally, something that isolates container execution to a single on-premises location or cloud. Panzura said its updated platform changes that, allowing developers to move containers between any cloud and location by making their data mobile and persistent.

Panzura said it can bring persistent and mobile storage to containers thanks to Panzura CloudFS, its cloud-based storage file system that leverages its patented SmartSync technology. SmartSync works by synchronizing metadata in real time so that storage files are kept in sync across multiple sites. Data is copied in real time from one location to any other location, making it available wherever it’s needed.

Panzura Chief Executive Officer Patrick Harr said the main advantage of having mobile persistent data is that organizations using containers are no longer locked in to a single location or company.  

“Because containerized applications work on particular data sets, they may be limited on where they run by that data, or they may require that data to be replicated or forked,” Harr explained. “Panzura puts the same data where the container is running, eliminating the need to replicate, fork, or even synchronize data as an independent operation. This allows customers to run containerized applications in different locations while accessing the same data at the same time.”

A second benefit of data mobility is reduced storage costs. He explained that Panzura CloudFS consolidates unstructured data storage, archive, backup and disaster recovery in the cloud, delivering storage cost savings of up to 70 percent for some customers.

“This enables [customers] to eliminate legacy NAS, as well as achieve real-time, global collaboration,” Harr said. “We also do global deduplication, which reduces the storage footprint by 4:1. In addition, we eliminate duplicate storage for registries. With Panzura CloudFS, you push once and pull/deploy anywhere.”

Panzura said that Docker integration is being made available to all of its Panzura Freedom customers at no additional cost.

Image: Panzura